Missouri and six other Republican states filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The suit aims to block the administration’s newest plan to forgive billions of dollars in student debt, which the states argue is illegal.
The joint lawsuit targets President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment program. The lawsuit claims the program will cost Americans $475 billion over the next ten years. Notably, that is $45 billion more than the previous student loan forgiveness the Supreme Court rejected.
In a 6-3 opinion in Biden v. Nebraska, the Court ruled that Biden cannot “unilaterally alter large sections of the American economy.” Missouri also played a notable role in challenging the forgiveness program.
However, President Biden has openly defied the ruling by creating the SAVE program and bragging about it. “The Supreme Court blocked it, but that didn’t stop me,” Biden boasted in February. Hence, the joint lawsuit, filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, accuses Biden of violating the Court’s ruling.
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The 62-page lawsuit claims Biden is “unilaterally trying to impose” an expensive policy he couldn’t get through Congress. Furthermore, it accuses the President of trying to “impose drastic, costly policy changes on the American people without their consent.”
Notably, since his presidency, Biden has made several announcements regarding eliminating student debt. However, the latest one, which occurred on Monday, April 8, sparked outrage. Biden’s newest plans would forgive the total student debt for four million borrowers.
It will also eliminate accrued interest for 23 million Americans. The White House also claims to provide at least $5,000 in debt relief to 10 million borrowers. Since taking office, Biden has approved canceling $146 billion worth of federal student loans.
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By signing over two dozen executive actions, he cleared the loans of roughly 4 million student borrowers. Bailey’s lawsuit comes nearly two weeks after he promised to sue Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. He made the promise after Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a similar multi-state lawsuit.
Kobach’s lawsuit estimates SAVE will wipe out at least $156 billion in student loan debt. “With the stroke of his pen,” Bailey said in a statement accompanying his lawsuit. “Joe Biden is attempting to saddle working Missourians with a half trillion dollars in college debt.”
Furthermore, Bailey claimed Biden was thwarting the Constitution to suit his political agenda. The Missouri Attorney General added that the President violated the Constitution by making the decision unilaterally. “The United States Constitution makes clear that the President lacks the authority to unilaterally ‘cancel’ student loan debts,” Bailey said.
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He added that Biden decided “without express permission from Congress.” “The President does not get to thwart the Constitution when it suits his political agenda,” the attorney added. “I’m filing to halt his brazen attempt to curry favor with some citizens by forcing others to shoulder their debts.”
“The Constitution will continue to mean something as long as I’m Attorney General,” Bailey concluded. Other attorneys joined the Missouri Attorney General to challenge Biden’s debt-cancellation agenda. Attorneys General from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma joined Bailey in challenging the policy.
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